Ecological Economics: A Political Economics Approach to Environment and Development

Ecological economics is a hot topic today as an alternative to 'neo-classical' environmental economics. It seeks to 'socially construct' a political economics that will deal with environmental problems and make the individual more visible in economic analysis. A leading authority in the field describes the principles, strategies and instruments of social change from the point of view of key players -- governmental agencies, business corporations, environmental and religious organizations and universities -- and underlines their responsibilities in the market economy. This critical text in the search for an interdisciplinary economics that facilitates social and environmental development offers a pluralistic and democratic approach to addressing environmental problems and balances the priorities of economic growth and international competitiveness with environmental sustainability. It emphasizes the need to articulate ideologies, worldviews, ethics and related scientific perspectives as part of economics. This illuminating account of the theories and means that will bring us closer to a sustainable society considers tools such as environmental impact assessment (EIA) and describes success indicators such as environmental labeling and environmental management systems (EMS). It highlights strategies and policies that facilitate social change and sets out future agendas for the individual actors in political economics.